


Closer than Blood

by All_I_Want_Is_You



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Families of Choice, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 08:56:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10408524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_I_Want_Is_You/pseuds/All_I_Want_Is_You
Summary: Jack and Henry have a sleepover, but it's almost the anniversary of Hailey's death. Can Henry help his brother-of-his-heart through a hard night filled with nightmares, or will he be too upset to help?





	

Hotch tiredly rubbed his eyes, wondering, for the hundredth time in the last hour alone, what on earth possessed him to agree to let Henry stay over that night. Even though it had been years ago, Jack still got night terrors around the anniversary of Hailey's death, which was rapidly approaching. Hotch didn't want Henry to have to be subjected to the absolute terror and heart-stopping sounds of pain that came from Jack in the middle of a night terror, but the boys had begged and pleaded until Hotch finally gave in.

Hotch dropped into the comfy chair in front of the television, wondering if it would be morally acceptable for him to have some liquor at 3:00 in the afternoon. After all, he had two children in his care who, at any given moment, might need to be driven to the hospital. Hotch decided against it, telling himself that he would have JJ repay the favor and have her watch Jack and Henry soon.

"Daddy! Daddy! Can we go play at the park? Pretty please? I promise to keep an eye on Henry. He won't even come home with a scraped knee," Jack pleaded with Hotch. Just when Hotch thought he could have a few minutes to himself while the boys played in Jack’s room . . . Oh well. The downside to having kids. But just one “I love you, Daddy” made up for all the bad, a thousand times over.

"Sure, buddy. Let me just go and get my jacket. You might want to grab one for yourself and Henry. Don't want to get sick at your sleepover, do you?" Hotch asked, knowing that one tried and true way to get Jack or Henry to do something was to subtly suggest that not doing it would end in something that would cause their play time to end . . . such as getting sick. 

That last statement preceded a stampede to the hall closet and a race to get jackets on and zipped up, before a rush to the back door to wait for Hotch to open the door so they could get to the car. 

***Later that night***

Hotch was just about to climb into bed, exhausted after a long day of chasing a ten year old and a seven year old, when he heard the beginnings of a nightmare coming from Jack's room, where he and Henry had gone to bed hours ago.

Hotch hurried to the room and was about to open the door, when he heard a soft voice that took him a second to recognize. Henry, in all his seven years, knew that Jack needed help. Henry didn’t think, but just climbed into bed with Jack and did his best to help him, just like Jack did when Henry needed him. 

"Hey, Jack-Jack. What's wrong? I know something's wrong because you're crying and you only do that when sumthin's wrong like the time when I fell out of a tree and got a con-cuss-shun. 'member? You saved me. You got Mommy and Daddy, even though it meant that you would get in trouble a'cause I wasn't supposed to climb a tree ‘cause I was sick." Henry couldn't have had any idea what was going on with Jack and why he was so scared. He hadn't been born when Hailey died. All he knew was that his Jack-Jack and Uncle Aaron got sad this time of year.

Jack was still tossing around in his bed and Hotch opened the door, ready to intervene and put Henry in his own bed for the time being and letting him sleep while Hotch dealt with Jack. But what he saw made him smile.

Henry had climbed into bed with Jack and wrapped the bigger boy in his arms and had switched from talking to quietly singing to him in his little boy voice. Hotch recognized the song as the one JJ used when she couldn't get Henry to settle down when he was a baby. Apparently the song followed him through his childhood.

Hotch watched in awe as Jack quieted down and curled into a ball, pressing his face into Henry's stomach, while Henry continued to sing and started to run his small fingers through Jack's hair, calming the older boy better than even Hotch himself could when Jack had a nightmare.

***The next day***

"Hotch? Why do our sons seem even closer than they were before?" JJ asked, in a slightly worried tone. Hotch understood, the boys were practically brothers. The thought of them even closer than they were had them both happy and nervous. Who knew what kind of trouble those two could cook up together?

"They had a hard night. Jack was having a nightmare and Henry woke up and was able to calm him down. He simply climbed into bed with Jack and sang to him while running his fingers through Jack's bird's nest of hair after giving a speech to Jack that he understood that something happened and Jack obviously needed comfort. It was adorable," Hotch replied, keeping a close eye on the kids and an even closer one on his barbeque. "I don't think those boys could be closer if they experienced the same things and were twins. What they have is a relationship closer than blood, forged in trials . . ."


End file.
